Cyclists’ Union is a non-governmental organization, a member of ECF and supported by our Leadership Programme (the programme invests in small and medium-sized organisations to become influential national leaders), that advocates for advancing the conditions of cycling as an effective, sustainable and healthy mode of transportation in Croatia. They advocate and work on transforming cities into cleaner, more secure, pleasant and greener urban environments, on a human scale, promoting the bicycle as a desirable form of transportation.

Through workshops, education and projects Cyclists’ Union is creating secure conditions for cycling and is increasing the quality of life in urban environments, shaping the traffic policies priorities to pedestrians, cyclists and public transportation. Cyclists’ Union has established a broad network of members, citizens, institutions, companies and NGOs, which is their greatest strength; the members actively participate in the work of the Cyclists’ Union in different areas and possess specialized knowledge and skills for designing sustainable development of cycling in cities.

With around 2300 members that have supported their work for longer than five years and over 32.000 friends on Facebook, Cyclists’ Union presents one of the most active and strongest regional organizations that advocate for cycling in cities. In 2016 the organisation completed 10 educational seminars on alternative mobilities, including using tricycles for seniors and people with disabilities, traffic regulations for school children and a workshop on the foundations of bike riding for kindergartners. Through two campaigns we raised awareness of the international project “Bike to Work” to a national level and continued the implementation of a new European project “Dialogue on Mobility”. Cyclists’ Union also systematically promoted the necessity of cycling with bike lights, which was supported by a number of bike shops, the Ministry of Interior and our partner organization, Varazdin’s Cyclists.

The Cyclists’ Union also organized the third Pedalafest and once again encouraged citizens to participate in the international contest called Winter Bike to Work Day, which brought them the win for the second year in a row. Along with citizens they supported two Critical Mass events and organized the liberation of Masarykova Street from automobile traffic on a Sunday afternoon as part of European Mobility Week. And on top of that, the European Cyclist Federation is happy to have the Cyclists’ Union on board as representatives on the newly formed Coordinating Body for Cycle-tourism!

Great start for the year 2017

Also the year 2017 started big! On March 12th, along with Greenpeace Croatia and Friends of the Earth Croatia, the Cyclists’ Union organised a successful bike ride to break free from fossil fuels. 1500 cyclists participated, and stopped traffic in Zagreb, Croatia's capital, requesting from the government a complete shift from fossil fuels. The event was the first in a chain of "Break free from fossil fuels" protests in more than 40 countries on 6 continents and Leonardo DiCaprio reported about the event on his Instagram profile.

We thank the Cyclists’ Union to be such a proactive and supportive member of the European Cyclists' Federation and are looking forward to their activities in the year 2017!

You can read the full annual report of the Cyclists’ Union 2016 here.